Solomon’s Rise

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen People. 00:00:03 Speaker 2: Come now, Kibira, Can you blame me for assuming I was going to be made king. I am the eldest of David's remaining sons. 00:00:13 Speaker 3: Prince said, Anijah, you asked to have a word. You stand before me. What is it that you want? 00:00:21 Speaker 2: All I seek is a wife, not an officer a throne, That is all I want. Please speak to King Solomon. Since he won't turn you down, let him give me Abishak. 00:00:34 Speaker 4: He has requested Abishak the Shunamite for a bride. A member of the King's held another feather your cat as you hoaray around Judea bribing for another bid of the throne. Tell me, then, what's the name of Abishak's grandfather? 00:00:49 Speaker 2: I now Percy Mercy Solomon, As you say we are brothers. 00:00:57 Speaker 4: You had a chance. Did tell me that if you made another play it would end with your death. Now let us deal with the rest of them. 00:01:12 Speaker 5: The crown comes with weight? Will blood stain the royal robes? Shell, Oh, my friends, from here in the Holy Land of Israel, i'm l Extein with International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and welcome to the Chosen People. The throne has changed hands, but the earth still trembles beneath it. In First Kings Chapter two and in First Chronicles chapter twenty nine, we find Solomon standing at the edge of a legacy, not with ease, but with tension in the air. His father, David has died. The nation of Israel holds its breath, and we're left asking what does it take to secure the promise of a future and what kind of peace must be borne through conflict? This right here is where Solomon's story begins. 00:02:00 Speaker 1: Had the Niger's pool of blood on the stones reflected the dim lamps of King Solomon's throne room, Solomon's court stared back at him, hardly daring to move a muscle. He had been crowned king, but now Solomon had to prove that he was worthy of the appointment. But before Solomon could truly begin his reign in Earnest, his father's final commands to vanquish his enemies still hung in his mind. He had been given a list, a ledger of those set aside for judgment. The three men who put Solomon on the throne fell into rank beside him as he surveyed the still silent room, Nathan, the prophet Beniah, and co high Priest Zadok. All four of them searched the crowd before them. They were searching for some one. 00:02:58 Speaker 4: There, Ah, High Priest Abbiaga, there you am come before looking. 00:03:05 Speaker 1: The color drained from Abiathar's face, going as white as the linen turban that marked his rank as a high priest. Inevitability and duty pulled him forward and away from the protection of the crowd. Onlookers parted before him, and his lonely footsteps echoed as each reluctant step drew him closer to his fate. 00:03:31 Speaker 2: Yes, my King, Abiathar. 00:03:33 Speaker 1: Knelt and inclined his head. Nonplussed, Solomon paced before the priest's stooped figure and calmly explained his logic to the court. He was not a cold blooded monster, despite the swift justice that had occurred just moments before with Adenijah, despite his youth and inexperience, he sought to show temperance and control as he dealt out the king's justice. 00:04:01 Speaker 4: Have ye, though you have served the Lord all your life, The only man who holds as high in office as you is Zadok. Here, your brothers, this is how you both served my father throughout his reign. How I hoped you would support me as I sought to serve God's people. Yet you betrayed David and me. You conspired out of pettiness and jealousy. Such actions befitting a son of Aaron. 00:04:31 Speaker 1: Solomon stopped his easy pacing right before Aviatha. He saw the man flinch, but he did not lift his eyes. 00:04:41 Speaker 4: I won't rehash the history there or ask you why you decided to betray my father's decision. And before you seek to defend yourself, know that you will not lose your life. King David never called for your removal or for your life. You've never broken faith before. He knew that you suffered what he suffered for all those years. I planned to honor his request. 00:05:06 Speaker 1: Thank you, my King. 00:05:08 Speaker 4: I'm not finished. In the days since my father's death, you've kept your head down. You've been biding your time to strike at the hand that saved your very life. Was I not anointed twice as king of Israel? Did my father not swear an oath that the Lord decreed that I would inherit his kingdom? 00:05:26 Speaker 2: He did, my King. 00:05:28 Speaker 1: The priest's dejected gaze remained fixed on the floor. He did not beg he did not justify his actions. The moment remained charged between the two men and the captive audience. 00:05:43 Speaker 4: He did, and I will not go against my father's judgment of your first betrayal. Though you deserve to die, I will stay my hand in favor of mercy. Go to your fields in Anathos Abieza. My sentence is banishment, banishment and removal from your office as high priest. 00:06:06 Speaker 1: The defrocked priest released a sharp cry of relief, reverberating off the stone walls. Beniah nodded to his men and then sprang forward to grab the elderly priest under the arms, lifting him to his feet. 00:06:21 Speaker 4: Zadok, go with them, see that your coal high priest is officially released from this office and settles his affairs. Then make your own arrangements to appoint the replacement, and give you for yourself. Someone else will need to oversee the practices there. You will take Abiatho's place as the high priest here in Jerusalem and steward the ark of the Covenant. And soon, very soon, we'll begin the work my father began by raising the temple. 00:06:53 Speaker 1: The priest nodded respectfully and trailed. After Aviatha, Solomon returned to his throat. His mother's tears of shock had dried, and she met his gaze steadily as he sat down beside her. She nodded to him, and he could see a twinkle of pride in her eye. Nathan's face was unreadable, but he said nothing as he observed the scene play out. But it was to Beniah that Solomon spoke. 00:07:23 Speaker 4: Next, Beniah, go and seek out General Joab and strike him down. My father asked me to pass this sentence of judgment for his murders. Joab must die. Go find him where he hides, for he has surely known this day of judgment was coming. 00:07:45 Speaker 2: Fund Her rolled across. 00:07:46 Speaker 1: The hills where the ark of the Lord resided, and lightning flashed, revealing Joab's weathered face. 00:07:54 Speaker 6: Rain descended. 00:07:56 Speaker 1: Joab didn't care. He stood in the rain, knock off his light as he gripped the horns of the altar. Beniah game alone. He approached the old commander, sword drawn. Joe out smirked, what is the King's sentence? Beniah side and rolled his neck back. 00:08:20 Speaker 6: Justice, Hm, Justice, the House of David is no understanding. Justice Mad kings are given mercy. Psychopathic princes are wept over David's fain. The madness con sentenced to die. 00:08:38 Speaker 2: You aren't innocent, Joe Abb. 00:08:41 Speaker 6: None of us serviced Beniah. 00:08:43 Speaker 1: You assassinated Actor on the eve of peace. 00:08:47 Speaker 5: You are annoying. 00:08:48 Speaker 6: He aided Abs along his crimes against David. 00:08:51 Speaker 1: You murdered Anisode without three kids or permission from the. 00:08:54 Speaker 6: King, and he led the coup with the donna. You undermine Salomon's rise? 00:09:00 Speaker 2: Then why did David let me live? 00:09:01 Speaker 6: Until now? 00:09:03 Speaker 1: You know why I do? 00:09:07 Speaker 6: David needed me, He knew I was loyal to him, and he also that sommon It doesn't need the retributions about to come for my scenes, So you will accept your fate? Why accept my fate? 00:09:24 Speaker 2: No? 00:09:27 Speaker 1: Joab's blade flashed as the lightning struck. Baniah was ready and blocked his attack immediately. Joab swung low. Baniah parried Joab Swagai Vaniah evaded the wolf of Judo, refused to back down. Bania knew it, who honored it? Baniah allowed Joab to advance until he exposed his left side. Benign jabbed struck Johab in the shoulder and then kicked him backward. Joab staggered back and swung Hi sewed up in aspiration. Beniah disarmed him and held his sword to Joab's throat. Joab smiled and nodded in approval, like. 00:10:10 Speaker 2: A fine commander at my place, Baniah. 00:10:13 Speaker 6: No time, make a swift They ringing ner field. 00:10:20 Speaker 2: Goodbye, old friend. 00:10:23 Speaker 1: One swing and it was finished. Back at the palace, Solomon convened with his counsel. Among them were High Priest Zadog, Nathan, the Prophet, the Queen Mother, and Beniah. 00:10:39 Speaker 4: Now that my father's debts had been paid, I will set out to do what he'd tasked me to do with my reign. I will build the House of the Lord, and it will be a temple like the world has never seen, a fitting dwelling place for the One True God. I will build up Jerusalem around the city of David, as it is fitting for the legacy of my father. King David expanded the borders of Israel. His conquest was outward. But I tell you today we will go upward. We will build, we will rise. My father's wars are finished. The time for peace has come. But this reign will not be marked by idleness. Oh, I will usher in an error of building and trade, forge through alliances unlike anything our history as evers. To that end, I've decided to take another wife. Mother, I will need you to begin making the arrangements for the match. 00:11:38 Speaker 3: Oh, and who will the young lady be? 00:11:41 Speaker 1: Solomon saw the delight on her face, but he wanted to ensure the older men at the table knew he wasn't a romantic fool. Marriage was a diplomatic tool, and he intended to wield it. He would build Israel's might with a hammer in one hand and a bride price in the other. 00:12:03 Speaker 4: Our people have had a storied history with this mission. It has been tenuous and contentious, to say the least. But I will attempt what no other king before me has done. I will harness the power of Egypt. I will take a daughter of Pharaoh. 00:12:21 Speaker 1: Everyone gasped at that. Solomon smiled. They were only thinking in two dimensions. Solomon intended to rule with much more. He turned to Nathan to gauge whether or not the Lord approved. The old man's face remained neutral. Solomon's mother answered his proposal. 00:12:42 Speaker 3: First, my son, your ambition is noted, but surely you should consider a wife of our own people. First, your first wife was already a political one. To shore up our alliance with an none. 00:12:55 Speaker 4: Yes, I obeyed my father's command to maintain his peace with our hot style neighbour Amnon, and Israel has one less enemy today than she did since I took Nam as my wife. I intend to keep us out of another war. Israel is done fighting. Now we are buildings. Mother. You can arrange for me to take a wife from our people as well. But Egypt is one sleeping enemy I am dangerously to. 00:13:24 Speaker 1: His words were met with hearty applauls and fists pounding the table. Solomon could not help but smile at their appraisal. 00:13:33 Speaker 4: Well done, King, Solomon. Imagine Egypt has an ally. 00:13:40 Speaker 2: Truely, it's just the beginning of a new era we. 00:13:45 Speaker 3: Will build under Solomon. 00:13:46 Speaker 1: The room of counselors cheered once more. Slowly, they filed out of the chambers. One by one they left, eager to enact the king's will. Nathan, however, was the last to leave. 00:14:01 Speaker 4: Nathan, what say you? 00:14:04 Speaker 1: Nathan's eyes were impassive. Solomon's breath stalled in suspense. 00:14:10 Speaker 4: How high do you intend to build, my king? High enough to reach the heavens. 00:14:18 Speaker 1: Perhaps Solomon's throat clenched. Nathan bowed his head, then departed. 00:14:28 Speaker 5: How does a man whose name means peace begin his reign with so much blood? Solomon Shlomo in Hebrew, from the word shalom. It doesn't just mean that he inherits a throne. He inherits tension, He inherits betrayal, old wounds that still fester beneath the royal robes. Adonia joab sheme. These aren't just men, they are questions. They're open wounds, unresolved verdicts, hanging in the air like unsheathed swords. And Solomon, still young, still knew you must choose ignore the ghosts or lay them to rest. There's something that my friend and teacher Rebby Jonathan Sachs of Blessed Memory once said that the Bible's story makes me think of Rebby sax It. Every time a nation forgets its youth, it's childhood, the hard times they had when they were struggling to make a go. They become decadent, and they eventually decline and fall. But Solomon remembered, He remembered the chaos that brought his father to power. He remembered the pain of betrayal, and he remembered the fragility of unity. The Bible has shown us again and again. God's promises aren't handed out like prizes. God's gifts to us must be stewarded, and stewardship in a broken world sometime demands a holy confrontation. In a broken world, righteousness may come at a cost. Sometimes it must uproot what's rotting before something holy can grow. It's hard for a ruler to turn their attention to spiritual matters when they are unsure of how stable the throne actually is. David's own wisdom led him on his deathbed to be sure that those who had threatened his throne would ultimately be sidelined. And wise King Solomon knew at the beginning of his own reign that he would have a very important spiritual goal, or many spiritual goals to fulfill, which included the building of God's Holy Temple, and he knew that to fulfill God's plans, he must have stability in his rule. Solomon's order for the execution of those who had rebelled against David must have been hard for him, but he relied on the piety and the judgment that he'd learned from his father in order to carry out these very difficult orders. That brings us to the final sentence of the second chapter in First Kings, It reads like this, the kingdom was now established in Solomon's hands. Here we see that the stage was now set for the important godly plans that Solomon needed in order to accomplish his goals. Although our personal situations aren't exactly the same as Solomon's, of course, as he was the king of Israel and the wisest man to ever live, we can learn a lot from this story. We all have important spiritual goals in our lives, goals that God wants for us. There's Bible study, which we're doing right now, and of course there's prayer, there's charity, there's doing good deeds. So each of us must try and structure our lives in way that gives us time and a peace of mind to accomplish these goals. I must admit that I find this to be a very big challenge almost every single day. I know that, even though I'm extremely busy with the holy work that I do leading the Fellowship and helping needy people here in Israel, I know that I also need to give full attention to my family when I'm at home, so that their debility will allow me to do the holy work that God has called me to do, both inside and outside of the home. It really is a balance. We often long for the parts of scripture that comfort, but the Bible also gives us the parts that confront. Solomon's beginning doesn't feel gentle, but for his rain to take hold, it had to be made ready, and that meant hard decisions, righteous judgment, and the courage to act. And what God had planned, not what humans might prefer. God is not creating fairy tales. He's creating truth. And truth can hurt, but it can also heal. You may not wear a crown, but you can carry influence in your family, in your workplace, in your inner world. Ask yourself what loyalties are quietly pulling you backwards? What relationships or habits are rooted and old compromises that no longer serve the future God is calling you to build? Why is Solomon? Even in his earliest years, he looked beyond himself, And though the methods may be unsettling, the direction was right. Solomon wasn't preserving comfort for himself. Rather, he was pursuing God's covenant, and that, my friends, is a calling for all of us today. We can get rid of the things in our lives that aren't righteous. We can act with clarity and kindness, and if we fail, there's always t shuva that is the beautiful, gracious, holy invitation to repent and to return. 00:19:42 Speaker 1: You can listen to The Chosen People with the Isle Eckstein ad free by downloading and subscribing to the pray dot Com app today. This prey dog com production is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zak Shell and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, Edited by Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvado, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland, Junior, Rosanna Pilcher, and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Aaron Salvato, bre Rosalie and Chris Baig. Special thanks to Bishop Paul Lanier, Robin van Ettin, Kayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, and the team at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You can hear more Prey dot com productions on the Prey dot com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, please rate and leave a review.